Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Practice Management System (PMS) integrations are complex from a technical and business logic layer perspective. Additional systems, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Radiological Information Systems (RIS), and Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) can add tremendous value but even greater complexity. A GIS is a computer-based system for the capture, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of spatial data.
The geovisualization of data is an important component of health care IT analytical processes especially as they apply to disease management and surveillance. A Radiology Information System (RIS) is responsible for managing and distributing patient radiological data and imagery. An RIS also possesses patient scheduling, report generation, billing, and image tracking capabilities.
Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) enable digital storage of radiology images and remote access. These systems can be used to help monitor and manage disease outbreaks, and they can also be used to discern patterns from health data. In this Discussion, you will look at how these systems can monitor health issues related to child abuse. Unfortunately, child abuse is a problem in many countries, and within the United States it is on the rise. It is estimated that more than 4 million cases of child abuse occur each year and many victims are younger than 5 years of age. Common radiological signs of abuse include long bone, rib, and skull fractures, subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhage (blood clots on brain), cerebral edema (brain swelling), and abdominal injury (especially to duodenum and pancreas). Read Chapter 6 (file uploaded). Number the document from 1 to 5 and answer the following questions:
1. How might a GIS-enhanced RIS platform provide child abuse social service caseworkers with information of value to their work?
2. What value might a GIS-enhanced application provide to a RIS platform?
3. What value would be derived from finding clusters of child-related fractures within a given narrow geography due to a GIS-enhanced RIS application?
4. In what other ways is a GIS-enhanced application valuable within the framework of disease monitoring and management?
5. What IT (information technology) considerations are there with the integration of GIS, RIS, and PACS? Note: Do not write introduction & conclusion. Do not plagiarize. You can research on the Internet or books/journals & you can add additional references.
